On Eagle's Wings
by Honorable Villain
Summary: Edward and Bella are both imprisoned. One mentally, the other physically. All they want is to be free, and live their lives. But can they escape their self formed prisons? AU/AH a little OOC, canon pairings.Darkish themes possible
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! Sooo, here it is! I'm finally done procrastinating. Thanks to my beta, bitemeplease235. Because without her, this would be much worse. :)**** And I suppose I should thank my sister for being such a pain about me getting this up so she could read it… Luv ya!**

**Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape or form own Twilight. I'm very sad about it too.**

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BPOV

"Bye Ang!" I waved at Angela and walked away from the theater into the dark street.

"You sure you'll be ok, Bella?" Angela asked me, worried. "I can drive you if you want…" She was a little hesitant, I could tell, probably because she wanted to get home to Ben, her boyfriend.

"No, don't worry about me. I'll be fine. You can go home and call Ben." I winked at her, and she giggled.

"You know me too well. But if you're sure…"

"Go HOME, Ang. I'll be fine," As long as I don't trip over anything. "See you at work tomorrow."

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EmPOV

"Edward, no! Come on, man. We've got enough for today!" I protested strongly. The girl was obviously in college, and we all knew from experience that most college students didn't have a lot of money. I hated doing this in the first place, and robbing people who couldn't afford being robbed just made it worse. At least with the rich, all that might affect them is that they might have a deep fear of dark alleys.

"Emmett, we _have _to!" he protested almost as powerfully, though I knew that he had as much of a problem with it as I did. Or, at least, he _normally _did. He seemed somehow different today. Edgy, almost. Jasper was silent, but I knew he agreed with me.

"Emmett," Jasper was almost silent, but still forceful. "We have to leave _now_. She's coming! " He looked over towards Edward. "Are you _sure_ you want to do this? You can still back out."

"NO. I'm doing this!"

Fine then, be that way. Edward will just have to do this on his own. Maybe then he'll give up with this crap. We would be fine on our own, and I've told him as much.

When we were out of earshot of Edward, Jasper spoke up. "We should stay nearby to see if we need to help if anything goes wrong."

"With his luck, some decrepit old lady will take him down." By then, we were both laughing. That would really bring him down to earth.

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BPOV

A breath of fresh air breezed past my face, scattering the debris in the gutters everywhere. My eyes followed one torn, beat-up, yellowed newspaper briefly, the headlines screaming of another assault. I have absolutely no idea why the city was so tense over this, or anything about the group besides that some of them were apparently extremely fast, and strong. But that was really about all. I made a point of not looking at the news much.

I looked up, and my eyes suddenly met a pair of gorgeous glowing green eyes behind trash piled high at a dead end of a street. They were too big to belong to a cat, unless it was a mountain lion, and I had never seen such a deep, vibrant, and absolutely _stunning_ color in any human. Startled, I skidded to a stop, and stared into them, entranced. It felt like they were so deep, I could drown in them. Cliché, I know, but it was still true. They widened suddenly, looking surprised, and then narrowed, annoyed, and zoomed away from my line of vision, so quickly that I thought that their owner had only blinked. When they did not reappear, I shook myself out of my stupor, and continued walking, stunned.

Lost in thought, I walked straight past a ragged blonde-haired man, wearing what seemed too nice to be rags, but still very inconspicuous. Suddenly, about a block past him, I heard a small scuffle of boots on concrete, and a brief curse. I tried to turn around to face it, noticing the man was gone in mid-turn, but was abruptly held in a tight chokehold against a man's chest, with a knife pressed to my neck. I could feel the pressure, but it wasn't cutting me yet. I silently placed my feet in as good a stance as I could get, and mentally, I calculated my odds of getting out of here unscathed. They weren't good.

"Don't move and I won't hurt you. All I want is your money; you can give me that, can't you?" The man's voice whispered roughly in my ear. I flinched, and tried to think of what to do. Those stupid self defense classes Charlie made me take wouldn't be of any use unless I could actually fend someone off…

"What're you doing?" He demanded, pressing the knife tighter to my side. Flinching again, I took a chance and tried to speak.

"I think there's something stuck in my shoe. Could I get it out? It's _really_ uncomfortable!" I put all my fear into it, and let my voice tremble a bit. The knife was shoved closer in response.

"You have a knife pressed to your neck and you're worried about your _shoe_?" he asked incredulously.

"Um, yes?" I squeaked, and hoped that it wasn't the wrong answer.

"Fine!" he snapped, "but hurry it up! I don't have all day!"

But, instead of bending over like expected, I 'tripped', and fell to the ground. My feet were maneuvered around his legs, so when I jerked sideways, he was startled and got knocked to the ground.

I scrambled up, not wanting to lose this advantage, knelt on his back, twisted his hands behind him, and grabbed the knife out of his hands, like in all those bad cop shows.

Thinking quickly, I tried to figure out what to do. If I got back up, he'd just take his knife back. And I didn't have any handcuffs…

Suddenly, I saw two more men in the background. One was big, and extremely muscular, like he was in the gym all the time. His hair was cropped close to his skull, and curly. The other was tall, and leonine, with tousled looking hair. Both of them were in very inconspicuous clothing, like they didn't want to be noticed. Actually, the second looked like the man I passed before. They looked intently toward us, and then started walking slowly and deliberately toward us.

I looked at them, and shook my head slightly. I could handle this by myself if they wanted to help me, and even if they did, they would probably only get in the way. And if they were going to help_ him_… well, that would be even worse. I didn't think that I could handle all of them in these shoes, and I would have to make a rash decision. But they kept coming.

Sighing, I knew that I'd have to knock their partner out. Gripping the top of the hilt, I hit him on the side of his head, just enough to knock him out. I hope.

I checked his pulse, and breathed a sigh of relief that I didn't kill him. Charlie would have had a few words with me if I had.

His accomplices were running straight at me now, and I got up slowly, hoping they'd get the hint.

Sadly, they didn't, and I braced myself, waiting. I _really_ hated fighting in stilettos…

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EMPOV

"Wait! This isn't like him! Stop!" I shouted at the girl, while Jasper and I ran towards her. She didn't look like the killer type, but Edward had definitely given her enough provocation. He had been getting on _my _nerves, and I wasn't the one he was trying to rob.

But it was too late. She had already tripped him, and he dropped like a stone. Then, she apparently noticed us, and turned to us, concentrating hard. And then, she started to turn, and her leg flew up and…

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"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" A voice apologized over and over – kind of annoyingly, actually.

I slowly gaining consciousness, and groaned. My shoulder hurt like hell. I coughed, and looked at my shoulder. No wonder it hurt, it was bleeding. Damn, that girl can _kick_.

She seemed to me talking to herself now, and I was only catching the occasional word or two.

"Shoes…Ang…car," the world looked really fuzzy around the edges, like a faded picture.

I think I lost consciousness for a bit, because the next thing I knew, someone- or a few someone's, I'm not really sure – had lifted me up, and dragged me to a car. I looked at the ground, and noticed that there was still a body on the ground. It was Edward. She was obviously going to leave him here. I know he was an ass, but I can't just leave him here. I'd be _so_ screwed, plus he's theoretically my brother...

"Don't…leave…brother…" Oops. He's not my real brother. Oh, well. I'm losing consciousness again anyway.

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BPOV

Oh, crap. I forgot I was wearing the shoes Angela bought me when I was… busy. It looked like the heel had broken off when I kicked the big one, and I had kicked _really_ hard…

How could I get them to my apartment? I'd feel _really_ bad if I just left them here. Well, two of them anyway. And I didn't have a car…

I decided to call Angela, and ask her to bring Ben too. We'd need him to lift them into the car.

"Hey Angela. Did I interrupt anything?" I could hear Ben in the background. I think he was talking to Angela as well.

"No, not at all. Did you want something?" She sounded a little out of breath.

"Yeah. Sorry, I changed my mind. I do need you to pick me up after all. And could you bring Ben?"

After explaining as much of the situation as I could, she finally agreed to come along as well as Ben. They seemed a little intrigued with my predicament, and more than a little humored.

"Only you, Bella," was her parting statement before she hung up to come and get me. I mean us.

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BPOV

When Angela and Ben finally showed up, I was a little faint from the little bit of blood he had spilt. After getting the blonde guy in the car, Ben tried to pick up the big one, and ended up getting crushed. It would have been really funny if the situation wasn't so horrible. It ended up taking all three of us to drag him to the car. All of a sudden he woke up briefly, and mumbled something about not forgetting his brother. Apparently the man who tried to rob me was his brother. Actually, I was just planning on leaving him. He _was _the man who caused all this. But, if one of them insisted, I really couldn't resist. I wasn't _that_ cold-hearted.

When all three of them were in the car, with Ben to watch them, and I slid in the passenger seat of Angela's Toyota, she started furiously whispering to me about being careful and walking in the dark. I cut her off abruptly.

"Yeah Angela, I'm sorry. It's just that you deserved some time with Ben, and I thought I'd be fine, and…"

She cut me off, wearing a sympathetic look. "Don't worry; I just wanted to make sure. I was really worried about you. You could've been hurt! And you haven't slept in a couple days, so that would have slowed your reflexes. But I understand. You work too hard anyway. You should take tomorrow off."

"No, that's ok. I need a reason to kick these thugs out of my house." I tried to smile to let her know that I was kidding, but I was about ready to fall over from exhaustion.

"Well…fine then. See you tomorrow then." She seemed reluctant to leave me alone.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine. Really." At that, she had to smile.

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This was _not_ what I was planning to bring home tonight. I wanted a coffee, or some sleep, not three people, one of which tried to mug me, and the other two could be his accomplices and I would never know. Right now, they were all over my apartment, and I didn't have any place to sleep. This is definitely _not_ my day.

I wandered through my house, checking in on my 'guests,' now that they were all situated. That was not a fun job for me. I _hate_ the smell of blood, that rust and salt odor. I grimaced, and remembered…

_I finally, after much hauling and sweating, got all three of them in my apartment. Obviously, that was _loads _of fun, since I'm on the third floor of the complex. I was really glad the floor in this particular room was wood; it was easier to drag them across. I wrinkled my nose, repulsed by the smell of blood and what I would have to do next. _

_I tried to figure out where each of them should go first. I had one bed and one couch, and I'm not sure where the third person should go, and also where I could sleep. I really need sleep. _

_Finally, after much thought, I figured out where the third person could go. I could put him on a bunch of blankets and cushions on the floor. There really was no place else, unless he would rather sleep on the ping-pong table. _

"_Ugh," I shuddered, and started dragging the two uninjured people to their respective sleeping places. I wanted to put off dealing with blood until the last possible moment._

_Glad for once that I managed to be so unbearably clumsy that I needed a really good first aid kit; I got out the tweezers and some really big gauze pads and got to work._

I shook my head, shaking the memories out. I didn't really need to relive something that happened only a few hours ago, and got back to my 'rounds,' resigned to another night without sleep.

Once, around 3 am, the big brawny one was awake. He started talking to me.

"Why did… You take…. Us... Here?" His sentences were choppy; probably from the Advil we gave him as well as my kick.

"Huh?" I had been nodding off, just going through the motions of checking on them. "Oh. I did it because I felt _really_ guilty for hurting you guys. You and that tall blonde guy didn't do anything to me. I just attacked you without any provocation. It's been a _long_ day." Actually, a long couple of days. I felt really guilty for that.

"Well…" he seemed a little hesitant about something.

"Don't worry." I tried to console him with a tired smile. "I won't kick you out. I can even promise that I probably won't remember the conversation."

"You think that's a joke." he scoffed. "Just wait."

He started to explain to me that he and the other one – apparently his name was Emmett, and the tall one was Jasper – were the rest of Edward's – the man who tried to rob me – 'team' or 'family'. Their boss apparently wanted them to think of each other as brothers so they would work together better. I guessed that explained why Emmett called Edward his brother before.

Anyway, Emmett and Jasper didn't want anything to do with the last job (me) and left Edward on his own when he couldn't be dissuaded, but they both stayed close to make sure he wouldn't get into any trouble.

That had obviously done a whole lot of good. Edward and Jasper were knocked out, and Emmett had to have the heel of a stiletto removed from his shoulder.

Somewhere during this, I fell asleep. After all, I was exhausted, and hadn't slept for at least two days. The last thing I thought was that Emmett seemed like a decent person, and wondering what he was doing with a guy like Edward, in a situation like this.

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EPOV 

I woke up groggy, really low to the floor in a house that I had no idea how I got into. I could have sworn that I wasn't on burglary today, and even if I was, I sure as hell wouldn't have fallen asleep, especially not in someone's house. Maybe I had managed to knock myself out?

I moved, and groaned. My head was _killing_ me. Then the events of last night started to come back to me, the most important of which was that I got knocked out by a girl, hence the headache.

Emmett boomed through the doorway, and yelled at me, quietly, to 'get the hell out of bed so we can leave.' Needless to say, I bolted up pretty quickly, which, if you ever had Emmett yelling at you, even quietly, you would too. He's normally pretty fun to be around, and really laid back, but when he gets mad, well…let's just not go there. And he was mad now, so I figured I should listen to him. While I was bolting up, I finally figured out what I had been sleeping on. It was a sleeping bag on a bunch of cushions on the floor. Guess the girl didn't have a whole lot of sleeping room. I wonder where she slept…

"Why?" Now, I could also feel the aftereffect of the _Striga _(**see authors note**)the bosses had finally convinced me to try_,_ and I just wanted to go back to sleep, even if it was on the floor. I felt like I had a massive hangover and everything ached.

"Because you're an idiot that wouldn't listen to your elders," he preened sarcastically, "and tried to rob a perfectly nice girl. I talked to her. She's great. So we're not gonna bug her anymore. Lets. Go!"

Apparently, even Jasper agreed with Emmett, and was practically radiating waves of disapproval all over at me. I supposed it was time to lose gracefully, and admit defeat. But first…

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I told them that I wanted to explore, and after much begging, they finally agreed, as long as I had a supervisor, so I wouldn't steal anything. Like I would. I'm not _that_ heartless. I think. She _did _take us in for the night, albeit unwillingly on my part. That didn't make me feel less like a stalker, looking through her apartment while she slept. But I really wanted to know more about her, however odd that want may be.

As I wandered, I found that she had a beautiful upright piano, perfectly in tune, though not played for a while; there was dust on the keys. There were little wooden figures on the top, of eagles, alligators, dolphins, and other animals.

I was particularly drawn to an eagle that looked like it was flying away from everything; escaping from a prison. It was so peaceful, without a care in the world. I was there for a while, dying to try the little piano out. I hadn't played for a while, and I missed it a lot. But I drew myself away, wanting to explore the rest of the apartment.

My most important discovery, however, was a shoe box. They had a note in them for the girl – apparently her name was Bella.

_Bella,_

_These are the shoes I told you about._

_Don't worry; they're perfectly safe._

_They're made especially for people like us._

_See you tomorrow at the shop, and you better have worn these before you get here!_

_Love ya,_

_Angela_

Apparently, there's more to this girl than meets the eye. What was with the shoes? And what was this Angela person talking about when she said 'people like us'? I was getting more and more pulled into this girl and her life, no matter how hard I tried to be indifferent.

I also found her, the girl, Bella, nearly falling off a chair she had fallen asleep on. Emmett was with me, and apparently hadn't noticed her until I pointed her out. He carefully lifted her up, and placed her on the bed. It was odd to see so much gentleness in big old Emmett, as well as seeing him write some kind of note to the girl. He normally isn't this tender. Emmett's more of the big, booming brusque type.

Turning from her, he dragged me from the room. "Edward, we are going _now_!"

"Why? I'm not done!" I pleaded. Something drew me to stay here, as peculiar as it sounds.

"'Cause we've done enough. We're going!"

And that was that. No one argues with Emmett when he's in one of those moods.

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**Thanks for reading! It makes my day. :) **

**Anyway, _Striga_ is basically my fictional drug that makes 'em all cool and vampire-ish. and thats all I'm gonna say on it because it will be further explained later. I just didnt want any flames about that... **

** The next chapter ****should ****be up next week, if I'm lucky. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Erm, sorry for updating late. Bad way to start a story… I found out that I had to go be a counselor. Quite the surprise… **

**So anyway, it's finally finished! Haha, yeah. READ ON!! : )**

**Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, or form own any aspect of Twilight. : ) I don't make money off it anyway… I DO however, own a poster and all the books! ;)**

**~o~O~o~**

BPOV

I woke up groggy, disoriented, and confused. Why was I in my bed? Then again, why _shouldn't_ I be in my bed? After all, it _was_ my house. As I sat up, the events of last night came rushing back to me: Angela, the alleyway, the men recovering in my house. Where was the big one-Emmett-if he wasn't in my bed?

After checking the whole house, and finding no one, I was even more confused. Where did they go? And why did they leave so quickly? A part of me was disappointed. Though the fact that I actually _wanted_ the men to stay was making my head swim.

And then I noticed a shoe box sticking out of my closet. I walked over to it, inquisitive. It looked like someone had been…looking through my stuff.

Just like that, the disappointment was replaced with fury. Otherwise, I would have kicked them out myself. How _dare_ they go through my things? I was nice enough to take them in (even though I _was_ the reason that they needed someplace to go) and they defile my stupidly placed trust.

Then, I looked through the rest of the house, and was glad to notice that nothing else was displaced, though something was odd about the piano.

Still furious, I put on some running clothes and ran out the door, intent on running as far and as hard as possible.

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EPOV

"_What?!"_ Emmett bellowed at me, and slammed me into the wall of the dingy apartment I shared with Emmett and Jasper. Plaster was shaken from the ceiling tiles, and fell on me where I was still planted to the wall.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me! Were you really that stupid?"

"What did I do wrong?" What was _up_ with him? _Really!_

"_What do you mean 'what did I do!?' "_ He was still yelling at the top of his lungs, "_You were going through her stuff!_" Ok, I was mistaken. _Now _he was yelling at the top of his lungs. I swear I could feel the walls shaking.

"Hey you!" Our crotchety old neighbor below us yelled up at us, and banging on his ceiling with what sounded like a broom. _So _original. I know he's in a wheelchair, but still. "Shut up!"

Emmett, always eloquent, yelled back "No! You shut up!" Sometimes I think he has the mental equivalent of a child.

Nevertheless, he returned to a normal volume, and proceeded to tell me that going through someone's things was illegal, especially when you had already tried to rob her once, and to tell him what I took right away so that he could give it back to her, and apologize for my 'insolence.'

To which I replied that I hadn't taken anything, and that he should trust me.

This went on for a while, till he finally believed that I hadn't taken anything.

"Hey man, I'm sorry. You were just acting really weird last night. I wouldn't have put it past you, with the way you were acting. Think it was the_ Striga_?" he seemed to have finished, and then had an afterthought. "And why did you look through her closet?"

"I just wanted to learn more about her." I chose to ignore the comment about the _Striga_. I hadn't noticed anything…

"You know that's pretty stalkerish, right?"

"No, it isn't. I was just curious. Listen, can I leave now?"

"Where could you possibly need to go?"

"Don't worry; I'm not going back to Bella's. That's part of the past now, ok? Let's just forget about it. Actually, I want to go on a run." Bella will always stay a mystery to me, which will probably irritate me to no end, but I'll get over it.

"Fine. Don't worry about the Volturi, ok? As far as their concerned, we have everything we needed. Even Jasper agrees that we don't have to tell them, and you know how he gets. Oh, and you don't have to worry about her turning us in, either. She promised she wouldn't turn us in, as long as we didn't try and rob her again." He smirked, knowing that he had covered all the things I could have possibly complained about.

How did he know I was worrying about all that? Then again, it _was_ Emmett. He could be perceptive when he felt like it.

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BPOV

I was listening to my iPod, singing along, and completely ignoring the rest of the world. This was my way to relax, especially after that hectic meeting with Angela. I had gone to see her at work, where she was practicing, since there weren't any classes at the time. We had gotten into a little argument, which was actually pretty serious for us. We normally got along pretty well, and didn't fight often. But that was definitely cause for a fight. I wanted her to return those stupid shoes, but she wouldn't allow it. Since she had both the mailing address and the receipt, there was blood on one heel that wouldn't come off, and the other heel was missing the tip, I had to keep them, and she knew it. We ended up shouting, and I got kicked out. We were apparently messing up someone's 'karma' or something. People who come into the dojo this early in the morning were always really odd. I left, running in a random direction, still mad at Angela. But I wasn't worried. We would make up later; we always did.

Then, I tripped over a crack on the sidewalk, and almost went sprawling. I righted myself with no more trouble than normal, and waved at the person asking if I was okay. This was what I got when I didn't pay attention to where I was going. My head's impending desire to make contact with gravity took over.

Running, like most other sports, just wasn't my thing. I fell just as often as I didn't, but for some reason, I liked it anyway. It was a way for me to get away from everything; to, well, escape. And besides, I was getting better. I had been running for about half an hour and this was the first time I fell.

Then it hit me. I knew what seemed wrong with my piano. The eagle was missing. My favorite eagle, he (I always thought it was a he) looked like he was escaping the bonds of the world. And one of _them _took it. I had my suspicions which one it was, too. And I was just starting to relax too.

Seconds after my revelation, I ran straight into something, and started to fall. Or should I say some_one_? I braced myself, hoping I would get away with only minor injuries.

"Oops. Sorry about that. I'm not very good at keeping my balance…" I started rambling, and made the mistake of looking up. I blushed, because I was looking into the eyes of an absolutely _gorgeous_ man. My roommate Rose would say he was hot, but that was far too crude to describe him.

His hair was the color of new bronze, and tousled, like he had just gotten out of bed, but more perfect. His eyes were deep emerald green, and looked oddly familiar, which was utterly impossible, since I had never seen such a beautiful color, or him, before in my life. They also had shadows under them, like he hadn't slept well for a while. He was strongly muscled, and somehow carried an air of grace that most guys couldn't pull off without looking stupid. I wish I could say I knew what he was wearing, but I couldn't seem to pay attention to anything but his face. I immediately wanted to get home and start painting.

When I was done studying him, I noticed that he had been apologizing as well, and as he finished, I noticed his voice was very musical, and smooth like velvet. And then he was looking at me expectantly, apparently waiting for an answer to a question I didn't hear. My head was getting light. Oh, right. I should breathe...

"Oh, um, I'm sorry. I didn't catch that." I stuttered, embarrassed. I could feel my signature blush staining my cheeks. Again.

"I just asked your name. My name's Edward." He smiled at me, and his smile was, unsurprisingly, gorgeous. I need new adjectives, badly.

Then I put two and two together and got _Edward_. The absolutely hot man I just ran into was the horrible man from last night. My eyes widened, and any peace I had managed to cling to from earlier was gone in a puff of smoke.

How _dare_ he be so nice today? I mean, he was trying to rob me only a couple hours ago! I ranted silently, more furious at myself than anything for being attracted to him.

I think I started glaring at him, because he immediately released me and stepped away, looking extremely wary. Well, that put _that_ theory to rest. I had hoped a little that he didn't know who I was. But there was really only one reason he'd be cautious around me, and no reason to be around a random girl in the streets.

"Don't worry," I sighed. "I won't do anything. I promise." And _this_ was why I didn't enjoy beating people. If I met them again, they were instantly scared and didn't give me a chance.

He seemed insulted, and it was his turn to glare at me. I was actually a little scared, even though I knew he wouldn't be stupid enough to do anything on a busy street.

Wait. We _were_ on a crowded street, right? The rest of the world kinda disappeared once I ran into him. I glanced around briefly, making sure that there were other people. Thank God, there were.

"You caught me off guard." He defended himself, and I shook myself out of my stupor. I hadn't been listening again.

"I could have stopped you if I knew you were coming." It was actually pretty funny, a big, strong man like him having to defend himself against little pathetic me.

I had stopped laughing once his words sunk through. This was no longer humorous. I wondered if he figured out how that could be applied to our…situation. And there was something odd about his eyes. They seemed… different than last night. Though I'm not sure why. I don't even recall how they looked exactly. Details were still coming back to me from last night.

"You don't give people that chance, so why should I? If I had known you were coming, you wouldn't have gotten anywhere near me."

"Touché," He laughed, "I apologize." I don't know why I thought this, I was still furious, but he had a beautiful laugh.

"Too bad. I don't forgive you." I know that I sounded like a bratty child, but nothing witty seemed to come to me. There was no need to forgive someone you might never see again. Especially when he was only stopped from robbing you by getting knocked out by a girl using his knife.

Before he could reply, I bombarded him with my question.

"Did you take my eagle?" I began softly, not wanting to make a scene. "It was wooden, and on top of my piano. I need to know. I promise that I won't turn you in if you give it back. I'll forget all about everything that has happened in the past couple hours," I pleaded, embarrassed that I had sunk to this.

"I'm sorry. I didn't take it." He _seemed _apologetic, but how would I know? Part of being the worst liar ever was not being able to tell truth from lie, even horrible lies.

I don't know what could possibly bring me to do this, but I put my hand on his chest, and looked directly at him.

"Edward." He seemed surprised, so I took advantage of it, and hoped that he would listen.

"Please. Just…take care of it. It's very important to me. It… is extremely sentimentally valuable to me."

He seemed to be debating something. Right when I was leaving, furious that he was lying to me (fine, I believed him, but who else would take it?), he made up his mind.

"Bella…" his voice was worried, and I turned around briefly, so he knew I was listening. I didn't _totally_ hate him. "Emmett told me you promised him you wouldn't turn us in…" Oh, he was worried about _that_.

I smirked, and looked him straight on. "I only said I wouldn't turn them in. I said nothing about _you._" Leaving it at that, I turned smartly, and started jogging away. But something bothered me…

I had noticed, as I turned away from him, that his face held an odd expression, almost like sorrow, or devastation. I felt bad for a moment. But I shook it off, and turned my attention back to my run. I didn't want to fall again, and I had to find my way back home.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

EPOV

You have _got _to be kidding me. Not just Emmett, but now the girl too? I was absolutely incredulous. Was I really that bad? I _had_ taken the eagle, but that was beside the point. I was normally extremely good at what I did, and no one should have suspected me.

I was starting to have some afterthoughts about the _Striga_. If the effects could make even Emmett suspicious of me, then maybe that's what made everyone suspicious. It's the only logical explanation.

Also, it upset me to know that she was thinking about turning me in. It was obvious that she still held a grudge against me, even though she liked Emmett and Jasper. I don't think she realized that if she turned me in, Emmett and Jasper as my accomplices would be turned in as well.

"Edward…" I was startled out of my musings by a smooth, unnatural voice. It was James, and he was on _Striga_. Not really the person I wanted to see. He is the _exact_ reason that I never wanted to try the _Striga_. He has lost all of his morals and values, and does all the dirty work for our organization because he is paid in it.

"Hello, James."

"Who was that?" he questioned me bluntly, glaring at me, his blood-red eyes burning.

"Who?" For some reason, I wanted to protect her, even though she seemed to loathe me. Though I guess I deserve it.

"The girl who just left. Mahogany hair, about 5'4", petite; you were just talking to her," he pointed out sarcastically. He knew I knew who he was talking about.

"Oh _her._ Nobody really." I said dismissively, and hoped he would drop it. He didn't.

"She seemed to know you," James said suspiciously.

"I ran into her a couple days ago. She's vacationing here, but she's leaving tomorrow." I shrugged. "And she wasn't interested. Already married or something. Doesn't like wearing her ring though."

Hopefully he'd buy that. I knew that he would think I would be interested in her, and I needed a reason that she wouldn't reciprocate it.

"Ah," he said, musing over my words. He seemed to buy it though. "I see. So how was the run last night? We hadn't heard from you guys yet. I was just looking for you to talk about it actually."

Just what I needed. From one difficult question to the next.

"Pretty well," I lied smoothly, letting nothing show on my face. "We got the required amount, and more. I'm not sure when Emmett was planning on dropping Aro's share off though. I'll ask him when I get back."

"Uh_ huh_. Okay then. The Volturi will be happy to know that. Most of us have been having problems with the police, so the extra is good. They'll want it all, so just keep your share of the regular amount."

Who does he think he is? We all know about the police problems, and he's lower than us. He was probably just saying that so he would get the extra we had managed to bring in.

"Yeah I'll talk to Aro about that. We'll need the extra as well, so I guess one of us will talk to him when we drop their share off. Look, I have to go. Emmett and Jasper are expecting me, I told them I was just going for a quick walk."

I walked away quickly, hoping he wouldn't follow. I really _did_ need to get back, and I needed to tell them about James asking after Bella. She liked _them_, and they would probably like to know that one of the organization's most ruthless men was taking an interest after her.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Jasper and Emmett were silent after I told them my news. They were shocked, and knew that if he continued his curiosity, Bella could be in serious trouble.

"I don't think that he will do anything." Jasper spoke for the first time. "He seemed to believe you, and thinks she's leaving town tomorrow. We only really need to worry if he persists after that. Edward," he turned to me, "I know that you don't like her, but you and I are closest to him, since Emmett doesn't use _Striga_. If I was the only one, he'd get suspicious. Would you help me? If nothing happens for a couple days, we can stop." Emmett was nodding in agreement.

"Sure, I don't mind. I don't have anything else to do until our next assignment, and I understand why she doesn't like me. I do hold a bit of a grudge, but I'll still help, for you guys."

"Okay, Edward. Thanks. There's just something about her… I just really want to protect her." Emmett was saying, looking off into the distance, in his own little world.

"I understand. Well I'm going to go to bed now. It's been an interesting day."

They gave their goodnights, and I trudged to my room, almost falling over from exhaustion. I think I was still recovering from that hit to my temple. With _my_ knife. I was still a little irritated that such a little person had managed to get the best of me. I wonder if she had nicked the blade or ruined it. It was a very important tool of my trade, since I decided that guns were too noisy and obvious.

I looked at my room, looking for the knife in question. Worried, I searched frantically. The loss of the knife I always had with me would not go unnoticed by anyone if I went to the Volturi tomorrow.

Sighing, I gave up. I had searched my whole room and found nothing. It was ironic that she had accused me of stealing her eagle when she had kept my knife. I would have to unearth a new one and find an explanation for why the knife I had had since the start of my career with the Volturi was replaced.

Sometimes, I really disliked the contract that kept me with the Volturi. Like now, when I was worried about finding an explanation for the loss of my knife, because it was possible that, if they found out that someone had managed to knock all of us out, and injure the strongest member of my team, that all of us would be killed.

I sank into bed, grateful of the loss of consciousness that I could feel creeping towards me. I would worry about tomorrow later.

**~o~O~o~**

**So, what will Edward and Bella do? They're both missing something precious, though I suppose Bella's is more of a sentimental attachment than Edward's. Or is it? Who knows what they will do? Can't even say I do, actually. I suppose they'll tell me… :D**

**Thanks for reading, and drop me a note. ;) I don't care if it has nothing to do with the story, I'll respond anyway! I like to talk to people.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Gotta say it, no matter how much it sucks, I don't own Twilight. *cry* Sorry Edward. **

**Hey everyone! So sorry about taking forever. But, on the bright side, all my summer stuff is done. So, it shouldn't take me so long again. Seriously. **

**So, thanks to my beta, bitemeplease235. I hope your laptop gets fixed. And to katmom for reading this over for me. Jake1212, thanks for the reviews…finally. Sorry to - passion.x. I know I told you that this would be out two days ago. Oops…**

**Also, check out my new story, Accidentally in Love, in the Once Upon a Twilight Contest hosted by stacey aka jackbauer and wishimight. There are some great stories in there!**

**Wow, that's a lot of people. Haha, yeah. So on with the read…**

**BPOV**

I ran away from Edward and to the apartment. I was too worked up to continue my run, since I'd be concentrating on the mystery that was Edward instead of my feet.

I stumbled into the door, relieved that it was almost dusk. I was still exhausted from getting little sleep for the last couple days, and really just wanted to take a nap. I laid down on the couch with a pint of Ben and Jerry's Brownie Batter, the TV on, and a CD of classical music playing. I told myself I was just resting my eyes for a moment, and wouldn't fall asleep. There was too much to do, and Rose was coming home soon.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~

Insistent knocking wakened me with a jolt. I sprang up to a sitting position, my limbs sprawling, and knocked over my pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream.

"Damn it, Rosalie, you have a key! Let yourself in!" I yelled at the door, frantically trying to clean up my ice cream before it set into the carpet.

"Who's Rosalie?" A deep voice with a slightly Western accent inquired from beyond the door.

"Oh, crap. Who is that?" I whispered to myself. "And what does he want?"

"I don't want anything, but to talk with you." How did he hear that? I must have been talking louder than I thought.

"Oh, well do you mind telling me who you are?" I was slowly getting up, and walking to the door, stretching out the kinks from sleeping on the couch. I almost felt at ease, which seemed odd since I had no idea who this strange man was, and why he wanted to come into my apartment. Normally that would make me feel paranoid, and I would be getting out the can of pepper spray Charlie gave me before I left, though he knew I didn't need it.

"My name is Jasper, Jasper Whitlock. You helped me and my… brothers last night." Oh, him. He was the only one of the three from last night who hadn't talked to me, which must be why I hadn't recognized his voice.

Now feeling completely relaxed, I opened the door for him, and got a shock.

His eyes were red…Deep, vibrant, blood red. I could have sworn that wasn't a natural color. And they reminded me of something…

My eyes, forcefully ripped from staring at his, not wanting to seem rude, raked over the rest of him. I noticed what looked like bite scars on his arms and that he was dressed like he was one of the teachers at the university I went to.

He seemed amused, and stood with the grace of a cat. "Yes?" He drawled it out, like a true Texan. Shaken out of my stupor, I shook my head briefly, and looked up at his eyes again.

"You're the one who came to my apartment, what do you want?" I accused him, trying to remember why his eyes looked familiar. For some reason, everyone's eyes were looking familiar today. Maybe it was just me.

"Well, I just wanted to know something…" he trailed off, looking into the apartment, staring at something behind me.

"Yes?" I drew the word out, trying to get him to finish whatever he was saying. The stain was setting, after all, and Rose would kill me if I got a stain on her precious carpet.

"Oh, I see you're busy. " How did he know that? Oh yeah. I'm holding a rag, and there's an upturned, leaking pint of ice cream on the floor right behind me. How could he _not_ notice? He'd have to be blind.

"Then I'll make this quick. I want to thank you for last night, for all of us, even Edward," he smirked, "so take my advice. Stay out of dark alleys, and you won't have any problems with…people like us, okay? And if you do end up in an alley, run away if you see someone, especially one who isn't _us,_ if you know what I mean."

"Um, sure?" I was really confused.

"Well, that's the best I can give you. Anything more and They would know I helped you." The way he said they indicated a capital T somehow. "But I would ask that you do not turn Edward in. I know he did you wrong, but he's actually a good person. I know, it's hard to believe, but it's true. He was particularly difficult yesterday. But anyway, I thank you for your time." And he walked out the door. I was stunned into silence. This has been the second oddest weekend I have ever had. That's strange; I just realized how formally he spoke, in addition to his accent. Normally I would think he was uptight, with the way he spoke. But he seemed really laid back, and would fit right into a rodeo.

I only got a few minutes of peace until Rosalie came home.

"Bell-a! I'm baack!" She sang, holding up at least ten shopping bags, all with designer names. I don't know how one girl can go away for a weekend and come back with so many clothes. But then again, she's also my fashion consultant. I have no knowledge of that kind of stuff whatsoever. So I suppose I can't be _too_ hard on her. If I'm lucky, only one bag of that is mine.

She skidded to a halt, staring at the wet spot on the carpet, wrinkling her nose.

"Bella, what happened this time?" I have a notorious history of spilling, tripping, breaking, or anything else causing damage to myself or something else. I'm pretty sure the doctors know me by sight at the hospital.

"Well, I nearly got mugged, knocked him and his accomplices out, they stayed here for the night, went through my stuff in the morning when they woke up, disappeared, reappeared after I yelled at Angela, and again a minute ago. Oh yeah, and I spilled some ice cream, so I'm cleaning it up now."

"_You spilled ice cream!?_ Wait, what? Nearly got _robbed_?" She dumped the bags on the floor – I counted fifteen – and sat down next to me on the couch.

"Yeah, I fell asleep because I haven't slept much recently, and I spilled the ice cream when the doorbell rang…"

"Bella! I don't care about _that_! You could've been hurt! Why didn't you call me?"

"Umm, well, I kinda forgot to…" I looked down sheepishly. "I was just so busy, and tired, and I just forgot." I shrugged. "Besides, what could you do from New York?"

"Oh, Bella," she hugged me. "I'm sorry. Why haven't you slept recently?"

"You know, I have no idea. It's not even the dreams, I just can't sleep. I tried painting, reading, tea, everything. I just can't get a good night's sleep."

"What will you do when you start school again? You need enough sleep, or you'll never get through."

"I know, Rose, I know," I sighed, "I'll probably just go to bed earlier."

"So, give me all the details about this attempted robbery. I want to know _everything_, including where they live so I can go after them." My friend looked so fierce right then that I knew for a fact that she really would hunt them down, if I wanted her to. It was nice having someone who would do so much for me.

"Gladly, I don't know where they live. Two of them are really nice, and…"

I gave her all the details, as much as I could remember. I left out how I felt meeting Edward after seeing Angela; I wasn't sure myself what it was, and I didn't really want Rose to overanalyze it for me.

She gave a big sigh, and patted my back. "Girl, this is what happens when I leave you alone for a weekend. Next time, you're coming with me." She winked at my horrified expression, and I knew that she was kidding – mostly. She's been trying to get me to come with for her monthly extended shopping trip since we met.

"Not a chance, Rosalie. I'd rather be robbed again than go with you."

We both laughed, and turned in. I hadn't noticed how late it had gotten as we talked, and I was exhausted. I saw a glint of moonlight off steel on the floor, and knelt, awed by what I held in my hands.

It was a knife, plain with a few embellishments on the hilt. But what took my breath away was how old it was, and how sharp. It was obviously an antique, but held an edge like it was brand new. I knew this because I gently pressed the pad of my finger against the blade, and my blood flowed freely. It made me dizzy, and I swayed. Knowing I was about to faint, I dropped the knife, not wanting to fall on it. I took a deep breath, and tried to cushion my fall with my hands as I blacked out.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~

"Bella! Bella! Wake up!"

"No…no shopping…" I muttered, still half-asleep.

"Bella, was it really necessary to cut yourself to get out of a simple shopping trip?" Rosalie asked me, handing me something warm, and that smelled heavenly.

I jerked up, grabbing the coffee. "Is this my brew?" I questioned, gulping it.

"Of course, silly. Do we _ever_ have anything but that?"

"All I did was blend a bunch of coffees from the store together…"

"Whatever, lazy. Get your butt off the floor. We're going _shopping!_"

I groaned. "Rosalie, can't I skip it, just this once? You probably got plenty of clothes for me in New York!"

"Well, yeah, I did. But I didn't get to see your whining face the whole time! Now let's go!"

I growled and got up, knowing that Rose would get her way, again. After getting changed and washing the blood off my hand, we headed out to the mall.

"Bella, we are _not_ taking that rusty old thing you call a truck. We won't get there until the mall _closes_!"

"Evil plot: foiled. But really, Rosalie, what's wrong with my truck? It works great!"

"You mean besides the fact it doesn't go over 60 miles per hour, it's who knows how old, and it hasn't been to a shop since you bought it? You haven't even let _me_ look at it!" she pouted at me, crossing her arms.

I sighed. I suppose it wasn't the greatest thing to drive, but it got the job done. Besides, Charlie gave it to me when I moved back in with him after Renee…

"Fine, we'll take your car," I consented. "But, you're only buying me one outfit, and we're taking my car next month."

She thought it over, and agreed. "But only if I can look over your car, and fix everything."

"You have to go over all the changes with me though. And we're playing my iPod in the car then."

"Deal." We shook hands, and got into her red convertible. I hate riding in it, everyone stared; it was so ostentatious. I would much rather just cruise by unnoticed by everyone. But Rosalie had money, and lots of it; she liked to show it off, too.

I sank down in my seat, and tried to stay unnoticed until we got to the mall. It was hard, but I managed. Or at least, I did until I fell getting out of the car.

Surprisingly, I was caught. I looked up, and saw… Jasper? What was he doing at the mall? He hadn't seemed like the type. And his eyes weren't red anymore.

I looked at him, stunned, as I tried to figure out how I kept running into these people. Were they stalking me?

"Hello! I'm Alice Cullen," a short, spiky haired, petite woman bounced over from behind Jasper, startling me out of silence.

"Bella Swan," I said cautiously, holding out my hand tentatively. She surprised me by pulling me into a hug, but let go quickly.

"Rosalie Hale," her voice came from behind me, startling me _again_. Alice bounced right up to her and gave her a hug too. Rose was shocked, and I could tell she didn't know what to think of this strange woman. I didn't either. She seemed torn between liking her and backing away slowly.

We stood around awkwardly, well, except for Alice. She was chattering away, seemingly unaware of everyone else's silence. Jasper seemed to be apologizing to me for Alice's overabundance of energy with his eyes.

"Hey!" Alice yelled. I looked up quickly. "Why don't you guys come shopping with me? Jasper here's no fun; I just bring him to carry the bags. I would love to have someone to shop with!"

Rose and I exchanged glances. Nodding slightly, we looked back to Alice. "Sure, why not? But I won't be much fun, I hate shopping."

Stunned, Alice stared at me. "Well, we'll have to fix _that_. What girl doesn't like shopping?"

Rosalie, having apparently decided that she liked Alice, agreed, saying she thought the exact same. They both agreed to try and 'fix my problem' as they called it. I shook my head, glad I had gotten her to agree to one outfit, otherwise I might end up staying here all day.

As they were chatting ahead of us, Rosalie and Alice kept looking back at me furtively. A little creeped out, I walked over to Jasper.

"So thanks for the advice, I guess. It still has me confused though. Care to explain?"

"Not really. Alice doesn't like me talking about it. All I can say is that if you see anyone other than me, Emmett, or Edward, run away."

"Oh. Okay." I pondered that, less confused, but only fractionally. "So where's the rest of the gang?"

"I'm not sure. Not here, at least." He looked up, concentrating. "I think Edward's somewhere downtown and Emmett's at our apartment."

It's interesting, how he concentrated. Like he was focusing on something… but what was there to focus on? Clouds and sky. So I must just be imagining things.

"Oh. Okay then. So how much does Alice know?" I said cautiously, hoping I wasn't going too far. I didn't know him very well at all, and I was pretty sure I wouldn't be talking to him if there was no one else around. He had a very scary vibe coming from him. But warning me definitely changed a little of how I felt about him. I figured that he probably couldn't be as bad as he seemed if he felt he needed to help me out, even if it was because he wanted to repay me for helping them.

"Everything," he sighed, finally looking at me. "She doesn't like it, but she puts up with it." It sounded like there was something else that he wasn't telling me, but I wasn't going to push it.

"Does she know about yesterday?"

He nodded, and sighed. "She wasn't happy with Edward, I'll tell you that." He smirked, probably thinking of what Alice said or did to Edward.

I laughed, imagining this overactive ball of energy scolding Edward. I found it pretty hilarious, though I probably shouldn't have.

Rosalie and Alice turned around and stopped, eyeing me predatorily. Rose took me aside, and started to say some of the worst things she's ever said to me.

"Bella, there's this dinner at work on Sunday…"

"No!" I yelled, already knowing where this was going. There was this dinner, and she wanted me to go. Then, she'd dress me up, try to get me a date while we were there, I'd trip over the ridiculously high heels she'd make me wear, and I go home utterly embarrassed. It had happened before.

"Relax, Bella. We'll give you choices of what to wear. You can choose the one you like best."

I sighed, and then froze. "_We?"_

"Yes, we. I invited Alice and Jasper. You don't mind do you?"

"No, not at all. Just…why?"

"I get along really well with her, and you know how hard it is for me to get along with people. Most just annoy me." She snorted and shook her head.

I nodded, knowing exactly what she meant. Most people couldn't look past her beauty and judged her on that.

"Anyway, you'll even get to pick out the dress and shoes here, at the mall. Okay?"

I nodded again, knowing that she would probably just guilt trip me into going if I didn't. Besides, I got to choose what I wore for once. I couldn't let that chance go to waste.

Alice squealed, and I looked at her. She was jumping up and down, talking a mile a minute about which stores we should go to first.

"I guess we don't need to tell Alice then," I chuckled, warming up to her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~

"No." I was putting my foot down. "We've tried almost every store in the mall! Can we just go home?"

"Bella," Rosalie pleaded. "There's no time to go any other time. It's this _weekend._"

I huffed. "Fine, but if we don't find anything in this store, I'm not going." Hopefully my ultimatum wouldn't backfire on me. That tended to happen with me.

We went into the store, and Alice and Rosalie immediately started picking things out for me to try on. They pushed a huge handful into my arms and pushed me into a dressing room.

The first dress I immediately discarded, shuddering. It was knee-length and gold, with gold embroidered flowers and a big gold bow on the front. There was no way I was going to wear something so short.

I had hoped at the start of my self-imposed torture that, since it was a _formal_ dinner, I wouldn't have to wear anything too revealing. The first time they had me try on a shorter dress I told them so. And was immediately told that the dresses _were_ formal. Then I saw the dress Rose decided on, and decided I was getting off lucky.

I was finally getting to the bottom of the pile of dresses, and sighed in relief. There couldn't be a single dress in the _shop _that wasn't in this pile. Trying on the last dress, I sighed, and knew it was perfect for me. Well, except for the length. But I couldn't be picky. All the dresses were either too long or too short anyway.

It was a deep, royal blue strapless dress with a heart neckline outlined with flowered crystals. It went all the way to the floor, and flared out at the knee, and I just _knew_ I would trip in it. It also had crystals right before the skirt flared, and trailing down.

I took a deep breath, and walked out of the dressing room to face the two fashion monsters. When I saw them, I was surprised to see Alice holding a pair of shoes, and Rose holding a pair of elbow length gloves and a simple necklace. All of which matched the dress I was currently wearing.

I narrowed my eyes. "Were you watching me change?"

Alice chuckled. "No, Rose just knew your sense of style. She knew _exactly_ which dress you'd pick."

I glared at my best friend. "_Then why was it at the bottom of the pile?"_ I hissed, annoyed that she made me go through all those gowns if she knew which one I'd pick anyway.

She laughed at my expression. "Because I wanted to make up for not getting any clothes for you this month! I needed to put you through your "torture" as you so charmingly call it."

I moaned, and took a closer look at the shoes Alice was holding. "You have _got_ to be kidding me. Didn't Rosalie tell you my problem with all things not firmly on the ground?"

"And some things that _are_ on the ground," she helpfully pointed out. I childishly stuck my tongue out at her and turned back to Alice.

"Still…These would be _perfect_ with the dress. _Please?_" She gave me the biggest puppy-dog eyes I have ever seen.

I sighed. I suppose they _would _go pretty well with the gown, and they heels weren't as high as they _could _be. She knew exactlyhow to get to me. "Fine, but don't make a habit of this."

She squealed and hugged me, jumping up and down. "Thank you, thank you, _thank you!_ I can tell this will be absolutely _perfect_!"

Jasper just shook his head, and Rose outright laughed, probably thinking about how badly I would make a fool of myself on Sunday.

We paid for my stuff and returned home, and I was exhausted. I fell into bed, glad to be home, and hoping the nightmares wouldn't make an appearance tonight. I was too tired for them last night, and I had gone too long without them.

**Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next week. Sadly enough, that's when I start school again too. Chemistry and Gym and Trig, oh my! Ick. **

**So just click a certain little button…**


	4. Chapter 4

**Ha… so I'm extremely sorry for the month long wait for those of you who have this on alert. I was getting back into the swing of things at school, and reading. Lots of that. **

**So, without further ado, I do not in any way, shape or form own Twilight, unless you count the books. But, really, I only own the paper its printed on…**

**BPOV**

"Rosalie Hale! Why is there a mask on top of my dress?" I asked furiously. It was the day of the dinner, and while I wasn't sure of _every_ social obligation, I was pretty confidant that most dinners, even formal ones, did not require masks to eat.

"Umm…" she stalled uncomfortably. "You see, it's not really a dinner. I just said that to get you to come. It's a masquerade for the boss's son's birthday."

"A _what?!" _The little sneak…she _knew_ I wouldn't and couldn't dance. Or see with a stupid little mask covering my face. I could barely walk in high heels when I can see clearly, much less when there was something blocking my vision. This was destined for embarrassment.

"A masquerade. You know, a dance where people where masks so no one knows who they are. Come on, Bella, it'll be fun! Besides, you can't back out now, you already said yes." She pointed out.

I growled. "I hate you. If I embarrass myself again, you have to promise not to make me go to another one ever again."

"Fine," she sighed. "But then we get to do your make-up."

"We?" I questioned, confused. Unless she suddenly found a long lost twin, there wasn't anyone else that she would trust with something so 'sacred' as make-up.

"Yep. Me and Alice. Remember her?"

"Yeah…" I said hesitantly. "You trust her with my make-up?"

"Yes. We've been talking, and we've decided the best way to convert you is to double-team you. It's like I found a twin. A short, black haired, overenthusiastic ball of energy twin."

Wow. I had never seen Rosalie take so well to anyone before, especially so quickly. I mean, there was me, but that was it. Most people couldn't look past her perfect body. Actually, it was hard for me sometimes to look past it. But I suppose someone that was just as beautiful as she was would be able to understand. And goodness knows I wasn't even close to Rosalie; but Alice was. And _converting _me?! I liked who I was, thank you very much.

"And by the way, you might want to get into the dress. Alice will be here any minute, and she'll want to start on your make-up right away. I'll be doing your hair."

I shuddered. I hated getting dressed up almost as much as I hated going to these stupid dances. Why Rosalie's boss decides to have so many formal things, I really couldn't say. I mean, the man owns a car business. He makes and designs cars, Rosalie fixes them up so that they work perfectly, and everyone else sells them. Actually, most people buy his cars. But, why he would need at least one formal dinner or dance or showing a month, I would never know. What was wrong with doing these things in jeans and a t-shirt?

"Wait," I paused her. "When will you guys do your hair and stuff?" I hoped that they had forgotten that and I would be off the hook. No such luck.

"Sorry, Bella. We're doing ours ourselves. We just can't trust you." She smirked at me, and opened the door for Alice, who was laden with all sorts of make-up stuff. Sadly, I was used to this, living with Rosalie was like having your very own mall, including the make-up section.

"Dang. Fine then." I huffed and clenched my eyes, crossing my arms protectively over my chest. "I'm ready."

Alice chuckled. "Bella, honey. We can't fix you up if you're in your _normal_ clothes. Get dressed. Now." They pushed me into the bathroom and shoved the dress bag into my hands. I sighed and complied.

When I walked out, showered and ready for torture, they were both dressed and ready to go. I sat down heavily in the chair that was obviously for me, and pouted.

"Let's get this over with, shall we?"

"Shut up Bella, it's not that bad." They attacked me with their crazy 'beauty' tools, poking my eyes with eyeliner and eye shadow as well as piling and pulling my hair.

"Ta da! We're done." Alice announced proudly, holding a mirror in front of my face. "You look _hot_!"

I looked in the mirror. I _did_ look pretty good. Smoky eyeliner, and hints of everything else, changing me ever so subtly so that I looked amazing. And my hair was put into an elegant messy bun. I was almost looking forward to going tonight, not that I would tell them that.

"Wow." was all I said. I didn't need any more. They beamed proudly and handed me my mask, gloves, necklace, and earrings.

"No. I'm not wearing this." I said, pushing the necklace and earrings away. "Actually, the set from my mother would work, wouldn't it? This is too garish for me." I grimaced at them apologetically.

"Really? You're right, they would. Go ahead. Just don't lose it!"

I walked as quickly as I could in these impossible heels to my bedroom, opened the safe, and put the age-old necklace and earrings on. I knew it was a risk to wear them, but they matched perfectly.

I walked back to Rosalie and Alice. "I'm ready. Let's go."

We marched out the door of the apartment and I stopped again, shocked and looking for our cars. "Um, what is that?"

"That, Isabella, is called a limousine. It's our ride there, silly."

"Wow…seriously? No way… what happened to your cars? What happened to my car?" I asked frantically, searching the parking lot for our cars.

They laughed. "We moved them so you wouldn't be tempted to drive one of them." Alice said. "When I go places, I go there in _style_."

I slumped my shoulders and got in the limo. There was no way I would win that fight.

We were laughing and drinking a little as we pulled up to the club. There was a horrendous line, and I groaned, thinking of standing in line in these heels. And I knew that asking them to _leave_ - God forbid! - would be out of the question.

"Rose…look at the line!" I complained as we got out. I waved to the limo driver, and he winked at me. I blushed, as usual, and looked away.

She shook her head at me and sauntered up to the bouncer.

"Rosalie Hale, co-chief of Motors & Floaters." she said flirtatiously, trailing her fingers down his chest. His eyes glazed over and he smirked at her, whispering in her ear. She laughed and shook her head.

"Maybe later." she waved her fingers at him as she motioned for us to join her.

"You ladies enjoy Twilight." he said huskily and watched us amble towards the entrance.

We laughed as we entered. The club was horribly decorated, and it was obvious who had decorated. Or rather, ordered people around and made them do it. Mike never did anything he could pay someone else to do. Alice shuddered, horrified, and we both looked at her.

"What? I can't stand hideous decorations. And this is _hideous_. Who the hell decorated?" She cringed again.

We both laughed, knowing who it was. You could always tell.

"Speak of the devil…" I muttered as he walked up.

"…and he shall appear looking like a freaking disco ball." Rose replied as we both put on fake smiles. Mike was coming to 'greet' us. He was dressed in a tuxedo, but with a little _twist_. He had covered the entire thing with diamonds. It was gruesome.

"What?" Alice asked confusedly, alternating between my grimace-smile, and Rose's poker face.

"Hello Isabella!" he greeted cheerily, leering at me. It was obvious that he was checking me out, even through the disgustingly encrusted mask. "Oh, and Rosalie of course." He said, trying for a husky voice, and not succeeding. At all.

We all tried to cover our laughs, having a sudden burst of coughing. Mike just looked confusedly at all of us, having no idea why we were suddenly coughing.

When we had finished, he had finally noticed Alice. "And who is this?" he asked, sneering at her.

She shuddered slightly. "Alice Whitlock. Wife of Jasper Whitlock. My baby's name is going to be Sun Rises in the Early Morning Before the Dawn Crow Sings, Whitlock." she lovingly rubbed her belly. Rosalie and I were coughing our lungs out, trying not to give her away.

Mike looked stunned for a moment. "Funny. You don't _look_ Indian."

She drew herself up to her full five foot four height. "It's Native American! And that's _racist!_ You should be ashamed of yourself! For your information, I thought it was a beautiful name!" She glared at him, and he just stared at her, unfazed.

"Well, give me a call if you need anything. _Anything at all."_ He smirked and walked away.

As soon as he was a suitable distance away, Rose and I couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out laughing.

"Really Alice?" I gasped, bent over. "Sun Rises in the Early Morning Before the Crow Sings, Whitlock? Who thinks of this on the spur of the moment?"

She shrugged, holding back her own laughter. "Me." She said simply, and then started chuckling.

As the chuckles died down, we went to go find her 'husband.' It was weird being in a club in a dress, good enough for the runway. There was still grinding, and drinking, and who knows what else, but it seemed more proper, or something.

I tripped over thin air - or my ridiculously long dress - and nearly landed on my ass. In spite of this, I was caught by a strong pair of arms. I looked at him shyly as I stood back up and apologized. He was muscular, but not like the bouncer. His muscles were more hidden, not as noticeable. Kind of lanky, like Jasper. He seemed almost perfect. Except for the hair. God, it was awful! The man must not have realized how horrible he looked with black hair - there was no way it was his natural color - and smiled enchantingly at me. I stammered another apology, and rushed away, cursing my inability to stay away from the ground. I hope he hadn't noticed how often my incredulous stare drifted to his hair. And I was extremely embarrassed at falling like that. Give me a horde of martial arts students? Sure, no problem. But a smooth floor and heels? Disaster!

When I caught up to Alice and Rosalie, they were cracking up over my savior's hair color.

"Oh my God! Do you think he's ever looked in a mirror?" Alice rasped out.

"No way! The mirror would crack!" Rose cackled. "That man must be more clueless than _Mike_!"

We laughed again, and I pointed out Jasper in the crowd near us. We waded through the mob until we were right next to him.

"Hi Jasper! How's Sun Rises in the Early Morning Before the Dawn Crow Sings? Wow, that's a mouthful. You'll have to think of a nickname for your poor kid." She got distracted. "Oh! There's a _bar_!" Rosalie sauntered over to the bar, leaving us alone with Jasper.

We laughed again as he looked at us, bewildered. Alice held up a finger, telling him to wait until we were done laughing. As the laughter died down, Alice explained what had happened earlier, and he quickly grew livid.

"How dare he? He thought you were married and completely out of your mind and he _still_ hit on you? That…" he ranted, pacing. His eyes were wild, and he looked like he wanted to rip Mike's throat out. I will admit, I wasn't adverse to the idea.

"Calm down Jazz. If he does it again, I'll tell you. Relax. And _crazy?!_" She massaged his shoulders, or as much of them as the sprite could reach. As he visibly calmed, I scanned the club, mentally ignoring the horrible decorations that reminded me of prom in a cheesy movie. I could see a few people I knew, and some I wanted to avoid.

"Hey guys, I think I'm going to wander around for a bit." I said, and they waved me off, telling me that they would be fine.

**EPOV**

"Um, Marcus…I'm not sure this will be the best idea. Jasper and his girlfriend Alice will be there, and he won't know about this, will he?" The man that ruled my life shook his head slowly, the hood covering all of his expressions.

"So how would I be able to avoid him? You've made it clear what Emmett and I are to do, and that it needs to be done without outside knowledge. How will we be able to hide this from Jasper?"

"Simple. This is a masquerade, in a crowded club. We will provide you with everything needed to disguise yourself so that no one will be able to recognize you both by your hair color. That will be enough, as long as you do not speak to him or remove your mask." The deep, gravely voice intoned.

I sighed. "All right. We'll do it." Like I had a choice. I could tell he was smirking, and it only made me angry. This man all but owned me, and he took pleasure from it. Sadistic bastard.

He waved me toward the door and I left, passing the guards and saying nothing until I saw Emmett.

"He wants us to steal from the guests that will be at Twilight tonight. Apparently there's a big event tonight, and a lot of rich people will be there. It's very formal, and we have to wear masks and dye our hair so that Jasper won't notice us. "

He cursed. "All this for a few expensive toys? Jasper will _murder_ us. And Alice will castrate us, and then murder us _again_. She really likes these people that invited her, something about being friends for life. I wanna keep my balls…" he whimpered.

"Then we don't get caught. Just because we all know each other's tricks doesn't mean that we always catch them. And he won't be on the lookout tonight." I explained rationally, though I was worried as well.

"But what about the pixie? She's the one that would notice." he pointed out, finding the flaw in the plan. The Volturi didn't know anything about Alice, just that she was Jasper's girlfriend. They didn't know that she knew everything about us. They would have insisted she join immediately, or die. None of us wanted that. No matter how much she aggravated me and Emmett, we didn't want her to be subjected to this. And they would have been especially interested in her, and would want to experiment.

I shrugged. "I have no idea."

So that's how I came to be standing in front of the bathroom mirror, reading the hair dye box, feeling like a complete idiot.

"Are you serious? Black?! Does he know what this will do to my hair?" I muttered furiously.

"Damn, Edward. You sound like a girl." Emmett laughed at me as he walked in and picked up his bottle of dye.

"Blonde?!" he asked incredulously. "Seriously?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

So that was how we ended up in front of Twilight, attempting to stifle laughter every time we looked at each other.

The bouncer, a heavily muscled man, gave us a long look. We knew him; he was also part of the Volturi's extensive network of people. He started laughing outright, recognizing us at last.

I glared scathingly at him as we walked in, daring him to keep laughing. He didn't shut up, and I shrugged, knowing that we couldn't look stupider, and besides, we cracked up every time we saw each other.

I watched as a man who reminded me of a sparkly puppy practically ran up to us, glittering with diamonds ripe for the plucking. He held his hand out to shake, and, a little disgusted, I did. Hasn't this boy ever heard of 'too much of a good thing'? I almost laughed as I noticed Emmett silently and studiously picking the diamonds off the boy's tux while he was occupied chattering at me.

When he turned to Emmett, I continued where he had left off, making sure that it wasn't obvious there were jewels missing. How clueless could he be?

I slipped the pilfered jewels into a hidden pocket, sewn in for just this purpose. There were many such pockets in this jacket, and Emmett's.

As the boy left us to talk at another guest, we looked at each other and cracked a smile.

"Twenty," I stated simply. This was a game we played whenever we did something like this. We had decided that, in order to make things like this less tedious, we would make a game of it. Whoever ended up with the most value, won a day off. The losers would have to do his work for him that day.

"Damn. Fifteen. I was _positive_ I was ahead." He looked at his empty hand disappointedly. "You should be nimbler, mister." He shook his finger at it. I just shook my head, chuckling.

"So, do you think we could 'accidentally' run into him again? I bet we could pick him clean, and never have to do a day's work for _them_ again." He asked me hopefully.

"Yeah, but if we did that, he'd notice eventually." I laughed, though it was a nice thought; to be able to be rid of a life ruled by the Volturi.

We split up, knowing we'd be less noticeable apart. I was glad for the masks now. It was extremely difficult to find someone you didn't know extremely well, like Emmett.

Suddenly, a woman tripped and I instinctively caught her, saving her from falling. She stood up and turned around to apologize.

She was gorgeous, from what I could see. She had on a blue mask, with a butterfly wired on, that covered half her face, but not enough to cover her blush. The blush on her cheeks and the deep, royal blue of her dress made her skin look like cream. Altogether, she reminded me of a Faerie Queen.

She stared at my hair for a moment, then seemed to shake herself and stammered an apology at me, glancing back at my hair every few seconds. I was a little cross, assuming that she found the ridiculous color of my hair hilarious. I couldn't blame her though. She must have thought I was completely clueless, to have my hair that color.

I smiled at her anyway, and decided not to annoy the woman in the butterfly mask any longer. I had work to do. She stared at me with a dazed look, but only briefly. Then she hurried to join her friends, who started laughing as soon as she got over to them. I hoped they weren't laughing at her fall; if they were laughing at me, then so be it.

I continued to wander through the crowd, glad that I hadn't needed to take _Striga_ for this. It had…interesting side effects. Actually, they were a little worrisome. But I needed to focus on the task at hand.

I pocketed a bracelet here, jewels there, whatever I could easily take. I flirted with women, snaking my arm around them, or brushing their hair back, snatching an earring. I was always disgusted by my behavior whenever I was required to do something like this. But every time I got worked up enough to quit, I thought of Susanne, and pushed the thought to the back of my mind. I would think of a way to save her, I had to.

I met up with Emmett occasionally, trading numbers and values, switching the lead often. We made sure to avoid Jasper and the pixie; he told me about the bombshell blonde he met at the bar. He had flirted with her, and she had almost caught him taking her bracelet. I told him of the stunning brunette, and he laughed. He was getting weird looks as well.

We split up again, and I started working through the crowd again. I noticed a group by a wall; a cluster of men surrounding a woman. Before I could even think it through, I was walking over towards them.

**BPOV**

"We meet again Isabella," I was slumped against the wall, exhausted. I hadn't been sleeping well recently - trying to avoid the nightmares, though it never worked. Mike was walking up to me, attemptto look cool. I sighed, and attempted to look like I was excited to see him.

"Hello."

"So, do you wanna dance? With me, I mean?" He stammered out the words, looking embarrassed. If he wasn't so persistent, I would have thought it was sweet. But now it was just annoying.

"Mike. I am _not_ your girlfriend." For God's sake, take a hint.

"Hey man! Who's the chick?" A group of drunken men were walking up to me and Mike, and I started looking for a way to sidle away quietly, leaving none the wiser.

"This is Isabella Swan. She's my girlfriend." I looked at him, startled. I had stopped asking him to call me Bella, he always forgot. But _girlfriend_?! Not a chance!

"Mike. I. Am. Not. Your. Girlfriend."

"Well, you are now." Arrogant asshole…

"No. I'm not." I tried to stomp away, but his cronies stopped me.

"Listen. If Mike says you're his girlfriend, you're his girlfriend. Got it?" One of them ordered me, holding an arm in front of me to stop me from walking away.

I shook my head, livid. I tried to duck under his arm, and he grabbed my arm, stopping me. I stood there, fuming, as he continued to tell me how I was Mike's girlfriend. I was never coming to one of these things again.

I snuck a glance at Mike, and he was sneering. I was glad to see he was missing diamonds on that stupid tux. I was sure someone had stolen them, and applauded whoever it was. That was why I was glad the necklace and earrings I had on were nearly impossible to get off. I would notice if someone's hands were by them that long anyway, or I would feel them taking it off. The two ends wound around each other, and needed to be taken off carefully, and slowly, otherwise they might break. I guess paranoia ran in my family.

"Listen. Can you let go of my arm? I'll stay right here." After a glance at Mike - I was never going near him again! - he nodded and released me. Now I stood facing them, with my back to the rest of the party. I would have tried to run that way, but someone was behind me, I could feel it. Plus, it's not like I could get very far in heels.

Suddenly someone's arm snaked around my waist, and he whispered in my ear.

"Just play along." I nodded mutely. His voice had sent a shiver through my body, it was so beautiful.

But he had started talking again. I really needed to stop this. I was normally a pretty observant woman; I had to be. But when I was around certain people - I refused to think his name - my brain just shut down. It was starting to become a bad habit.

"I would appreciate it if you stayed away from my girlfriend in the future." The man was saying cordially. Too cordially. It was like the calm before the storm. I realized I hadn't looked at him yet, I had just been glaring at Mike and his posse. So I looked up, and stopped breathing. It was the dark haired man! He was even more gorgeous up close, especially if I ignored his hair. If he got me away from this mess, I'd definitely tell him to change his hair color. Or wear a hat.

And really, what was with people and claiming I was their girlfriend all of a sudden?

"…Or you'll be found in a dark alley." He finished whatever he had been saying, almost growling it out. As we whirled around, I saw Mike's stunned face, and wanted to laugh. But I couldn't break the charade, not yet, anyway.

We weaved through the crowd and found an uncrowned corner to talk in, on the opposite side of the club.

"So… thanks for saving me. Again, I mean. Mike was really getting on my nerves." I started nervously; his arm was still around my waist.

He smiled enchantingly at me. "It was no trouble at all."

"But I would really advise a change in hair color. Because, no offense meant, you look ridiculous." I pointed out, hoping that I wasn't being ungrateful.

He surprised me when he laughed, throwing his head back.

"I told them," he muttered. "Don't worry, this is a one-day deal. I…lost a bet." He scowled darkly, before looking back at me and smiling. My breath hitched a little, before I scolded myself. How was it that this man could have this effect on me?

"I see." He had moved his arm from around my waist, and put it around my shoulder, fiddling with my hair. I found it hard to think, and tried to clear my head.

"So how did they get you alone?" He asked. I twisted my head to look at him. He looked genuinely curious.

"I was tired, and went to lean against the wall. Mike came up to me, and started talking. His friends joined, and it just kind of escalated from there. He was insisting I was his girlfriend, and I had said I wasn't. I guess he still doesn't like that neither me nor Rose want to go out with him."

I shook my head, disgusted, and noticed one of my earrings was missing, and his hand was no longer in my hair. He hadn't been messing with it at all, he was taking my earring off! I knew that being so out of it would have consequences.

I whirled around and poked him hard in the chest, pushing him against the wall.

"Give that back." I growled, glaring at him.

"What?" He asked, trying to look innocent.

"Listen, my dad's a cop, and taught me a few things. One I really have a knack for is catching a _lie_." My eyes narrowed, intensifying my glare.

"Well, I guess you got this one wrong."

I scanned the coat for the tell-tale seams and bunches where the hidden pockets would be. Spotting a few, I stepped closer to him, so there was no room left between us. Under normal circumstances, I would have been embarrassed, but now I was mad. I smiled sweetly at him, and wound my fingers through his.

"I'm sorry," I purred, stepping in between his legs. I tried hard not to blush. I needed my earring back. "I must have been mistaken."

My unoccupied hand trailed its way up his chest, stopping over the spot I assumed a cache of expensive jewelry was hidden. I was still staring into his eyes, which had taken a glazed look. But the rest of him wasn't dazed. He had dropped my hand and his hands were at the small of my back, pulling me closer into him and…little him. Or maybe not so little. Regardless…

I shook that thought out of my mind and quickly dug my fingers into the concealed pocket and fingering through the contents. I noticed a few that felt like diamonds, probably from Mike's coat.

_Hm… so this is the thief._ I thought, my opinion of him going from very, very low to just very low.

And then I hit gold. Or, sapphires, really. I pulled out my earring triumphantly, and laughed at his stunned expression.

"Found it!" I exclaimed gleefully. I quickly put it in my ear - my mother having drilled me in the art of taking it on and off so it would go in smoothly - and patted the hidden pocket.

"Your seamstress isn't very good, I've seen better. And, as a bonus, I'm not going to turn you in, because a lot of what's in there is from Mike and other stuck up rich people. But, if I see you again, you're not getting off so easily."

"Wait, how'd you do that? It took me forever to get it off!" He asked, grabbing my wrist as I turned to leave. My mood turned sour in an instant. This reminded me _way_ too much of Mike.

"Edward?!" Jasper yelled as he came towards us. "Alice told me I'd find you here."

"Don't touch me again," I warned at the same time, and slapped him hard. "Wait, Edward?! Whatever, it's not important…" I muttered as I walked away, trying not to fall over. "Maybe I should've turned him in after all…"

**EPOV**

She left me abruptly, stalking across the room, and I was left with a raging erection.

I shifted and tried to hide it as Jasper walked up to me. He smirked.

"Bella's got a little bite, huh? Like the new hair color." he snickered. "Let me guess, Aro wanted to keep me from noticing."

I nodded silently, still occupied that the beauty in blue, capable of picking _my_ pocket while basically seducing me, was Bella, the woman I kept running into, and simply kept making the wrong impression on. And I should have thought of how being grabbed like that - right after that vile idiot and his crew did it to her - would have set her off. I just seemed to stop thinking when I was around her, which was not particularly smart of me, what with my job.

"So, Alice told me something about how you were over here, and how I wasn't supposed to chew you out about it, because you would let her mess around with your ugly hair before you washed the dye out. I have to admit, I had no idea what she was talking about until I saw your beautiful black head." he snickered. "Well, this was fun, but you better leave. Emmett irritated the co-head of the place that's holding this party, who, interestingly enough, is the other person that invited me and Alice. So, he got kicked out. Forgive me if I find this hilarious, and leave you to your own devices to leave."

He sauntered away, and I stared back at him. I ripped my mask off in disgust, there was no use for it now anyway.

I stomped out, ignoring the bouncer, and ran into Emmett.

He looked at me dreamily. "Go ahead home. I'm going to wait here. I want to bug that blonde some more."

I just shook my head and left him, not wanting to know what he was planning.

"Also, I got an even fifty." He smirked.

"I'll count when I get home. Don't get arrested." I was no longer interested in the game; I was still intrigued by Bella.

The first time I saw her, I tried to rob her, and she knocked me, Emmett, and Jasper out.

The second time, she ran into me, a vision of beauty in shorts and a tank top. Music was blaring out of her iPod, and she had figured out who I was as soon as I told her my name.

This last time, she was at a party for the rich, looking a little out of place. She had run into me again, seduced me, and stole from me. Every time, she left me confused and intrigued. There was just something about her…

**The thanks are down here. Thanks to katmom and bitemeplease235, awesome betas, and jake1212, SuperManiac, and luvpuppies7133, my faithful reviewers. You all get cookies with Edward's face on them!! **

**And, even more importantly, thanks to my beautiful newish laptop, that allows me to write **_**way**_** more than when I had a boring old computer. **

**Review, my pretties, and your little dogs too!!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Yeah, so I have no real excuse for not updating this for a month. *cringes* Don't hurt me!! Just remember that I AM NOT GIVING UP ON THIS STORY!! I WILL continue working on this. :)**

**Also, I just got the new Paramore CD, and it is AMAZING!!! I love it lots. ^^ And there are only 17 days until New Moon!! *insert scream here***

**Disclaimer: I solemnly swear I do not own Twilight. (and that I am up to no good. XD)**

**BPOV**

I woke up, hearing loud thuds from downstairs.

"Rose? Do you hear that?" I asked tentatively as I rose and began the trek towards her room.

When I looked inside, she was nowhere to be seen. "Weird…" I muttered, throwing on a coat and walking outside.

I heard thumps coming from the alley between my apartment building and our neighboring building and started walking towards it, wishing fervently that I had brought the pepper spray Charlie made me take when I moved here.

I gasped when I saw it. Royce, Rosalie's boyfriend, was currently beating the crap out of someone against the wall of our apartment. I looked harder, trying to determine who it was.

Oh my God…It was Rosalie! Rosalie… I started to run towards him, furious, but was brushed aside by something larger, muscular, and heavy. It ran up to Royce and threw him away from Rose, making a loud crunching noise as he crumpled to the ground. It muttered "Shit…" and ran to Rosalie and crouched besides me as I cried, staring at Rose's crumpled figure.

"Bella! Pull it together. Help me get her to the hospital." I knew that voice…

"Emmett?" I questioned, looking up at him. I had thought that the immense strength had been something mystical, like Hercules, not human. I couldn't imagine such strength belonging to a human. I also noticed his blood red eyes, seeming to darken in fury as I watched him.

He muttered again and told me to look away. "Why?" I asked.

"I don't want you to see this. Listen, I'll explain later, but right now, I have to do something before I run out. Just…look away. You don't look at me like a monster, and I don't want that to change. Can you go get a car?" I shook my head.

"I won't be able to lift her into it." I decided to forgo the millions of questions running through my mind to help Rosalie.

"Damn. Okay, well can you pull it up here? I should be done by then, and I'll help you lift her. I don't suppose you'd be fine with leaving the douche bag here?" he jerked a thumb at Royce, who was starting to stare at us.

I shook my head again. "I hate him, always have, but I can't leave him. I couldn't live with myself if I did." My dad _was_ a cop, after all.

"Shoulda known. Anyone who would bring us three into their apartment wouldn't leave someone to rot in an alley. You're too good for this city." He patted me on my shoulder companionably, and turned.

I shrugged and turned, going to get Rosalie's car. I would have taken my car, but I was willing to break a few traffic laws to get Rose to the hospital, and had no chance of that in my car. As a bonus, it might be easier to get her into the car, since it was a convertible.

I drove it up to the alley, almost blocking the way out, and heard a flurry of thuds. I winced, and, hoping I was wrong, I looked out the window to see Emmett pounding Royce. I sighed, knowing that that was what I was going to find. However, I couldn't bring myself to blame him, knowing that, if I had had the guts, or the strength, I would have done the same.

"Emmett? I need help with Rose. And if you can knock him out, that'd be nice. I can't stand to listen to him the whole way to the hospital." I decided that I would just ignore what I had seen, and hope it wouldn't come back to bite me.

He looked at me in shock, and I shrugged. He grinned happily and punched him one last time before letting him fall to the ground. He then turned to Rose and picked her up gently and laid her tenderly on the backseat. He brushed the hair out of her face and turned around, scowling.

"Where's _he_ gonna go?"

I sighed. "No idea. I wish he could go in the trunk, but its too small, and I'm pretty sure that I would have to explain that to the police that showed up when I drive into the hospital with a knocked out, bruised man in my trunk."

"Front seat?"

"I really don't want him next to me. What if the douche-baggery rubs off on me?" I joked. "How about the floor next to Rose? They're both knocked out…and Rosalie's already been exposed."

He dragged him to the car and, right before he slammed him in, realized that he might hit Rosalie, and sighed. He held him a few inches over the floor, and dropped him in, making sure he didn't get anywhere near Rosalie.

I started the car again, and he closed the door. "Well, see you soon? Maybe… Listen, I know that Rosalie would want me to do this. This is her number. Call her later? Preferably after she's out of the hospital." I wrote it down on a napkin and gave it to a shocked Emmett, and he waved as I pulled out.

I thought hard as I drove to the hospital - someplace I frequently visited - about what I would tell the police that would inevitably show up once I got there.

I decided that I would say I woke up, hearing something. Since I couldn't find my roommate, I went outside by myself to check on it. I saw my roommate being beaten by her now-ex boyfriend and got a muscular passerby - a _stranger_ - to help me break it up. He had to punch Royce to subdue him, since he wouldn't stop. He helped me into the car, and left. I never got any information on him.

Most of that was the truth, with only a few lies. I should be able to pull that off. And I would just have to hope that they didn't ask about all the _other_ bruises on his body.

I pulled in front of the hospital's emergency room, and called my doctor.

"Doctor Cullen speaking."

"Hey Carlisle, this is Bella. I'm in front of the emergency room in a red convertible."

"Bella? What did you do now?"

"Nothing. My roommate, Rosalie Hale, and her ex-boyfriend are hurt. I can't get them out of the car myself. Could you hurry?"

I could hear him running towards the emergency room. "Did you move them at all, other than to get them into the car?"

"No." I winced, thinking of Emmett dropping Royce into the car.

"Okay, I'll be right out with two gurneys and some doctors. Can you get out of the car so I can find you?"

I nodded, then spoke, realizing he couldn't see me. "Sure." I hung up and got out of the car, watching the doors.

I saw them coming, four doctors talking frantically to each other and two gurneys.

"Bella?" Carlisle asked. "Why didn't you just call 911?"

"I panicked…I just wanted to get them here as quickly as possible." It was the truth. It had never occurred to me to call the ambulance.

"Listen, we'll take it from here. Esme's in the emergency room waiting for you. Go to her, and I'll call when we find out what's wrong with your friends."

"Actually, only one of them is my friend. Rosalie, my roommate, was beaten by Royce, her soon to be ex-boyfriend, and that's why they're here. Someone walking by helped me separate them, and had to knock Royce out. You should probably keep them apart when they wake up. Rose will be furious. She might hurt him."

"Okay Bella. Don't worry, she'll be fine. Just go to Esme." He pushed me gently to the door, and I stumbled.

"Oops, sorry Bella."

"No problem doc, happens all the time." I walked towards the door, looking for the comfort that is Esme. I never understood how she could be so motherly without being able to have kids herself.

When I scanned the busy hospital room, the events of the past hour began to sink through and horrific images flashed through my mind. Royce screaming at Rose. Rose still and silent against the cold cement. The blank hospital room. An open coffin with Rosalie inside. I began crying, and my vision blurred. I ran towards the closest set of friendly looking arms I saw, panicking, and began babbling out the entire story.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**EPOV**

I stared in shock as the petite woman crashed into me, sending waves of an unidentifiable fragrance drifting my way. I looked up in shock at Esme, who had conveniently disappeared for a moment.

I took a moment to evaluate the woman sobbing into my shirt. She didn't look like she was planning on stopping any time soon, so I decided to try and walk with her to the couches in the lobby, but she wouldn't move. I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. What could I do with her? I couldn't stand in the lobby for God only knows how long.

I picked her up, cradling her head against my chest, and tried not to think about how well she fit to my body. I started slowly walking, hoping she wouldn't mind me picking her up. She was so light - I noticed briefly. For some reason, I cared what this mystery woman did. What she ate, how long she slept, how healthy she was. I had a primal urge to protect her from the woes of the world. I scoffed silently at myself. How could _I_ of all people help her? Look at where I was in life - I had messed everything up. For me, and my sister.

I dragged my mind away from thoughts of the past, and looked down at the woman curled into my side, still sobbing. But, she had run out of things to say, it seemed. From what I had gathered, she had a friend, Rose, who had been rushed here, and could die. She was apparently her best friend, and a strong person. The one part that really intrigued me, however, was when she had talked briefly about this friend helping her through 'what happened' along with 'me,' who I could only assume was Esme, and some other people, whose names I hadn't caught. All in all, very intriguing. She whimpered a bit, and I smoothed her hair down softly, soothing her. I had had practice with comforting women through pain, I think it must come with being in the hospital all the time.

The couch sank next to me, and I looked up to see Esme smiling sadly at me.

"What is it?" I questioned softly, not wanting to wake the now-sleeping woman on my lap.

"Do you know her?" She asked, avoiding my question.

"I don't think so… but you do, don't you? I just happened to be standing next to you."

She nodded. "Yes, I do. Her name is Bella. She is an amazingly sweet, beautiful girl, but she's been through so much more than even the average troubled person. She's one of the strongest people I know." This surprised me. Esme knew a lot of very strong people. So there must be something especially different about this one. "Her friends would die for her, and know her like the back of their hands. She has an amazing support group, who all show up with her whenever she shows up for her appointment. And now, her best friend was just beaten almost to death by her boyfriend." Her eyes turned fierce. "If he doesn't get out of this hospital soon, I'm going after him. I can't _stand_ men like that." It was times like these that I remembered why we all called her a mother bear. She was so protective and caring, even of us.

Esme turned to me. "Are you alright? You never told me why you were here. We got a little…distracted."

I smirked. "Don't worry, I just wanted to stop by and say hi. I thought I had met all the cancer patients."

She looked at me sympathetically;. She knew how much it disappointed me, having to give up medical school. Or, at least, she was sympathetic up until I started talking about cancer patients. "What do you mean? You have…"

"But, you said she came here for her appointment. The hospital doesn't do any other regular appointments that would require a support group than for cancer…"

She fidgeted nervously. "Bella is…a special case. And I'm not going to say anymore." She said warningly. "This is her private business, and I won't be spreading it around without her consent."

Bella started to stir, and we both looked at her worriedly. I know that I didn't know her at all, but I was still worried. I saw what grief did to people.

She looked up, and I swam in her coffee eyes. I was shaken out of my reverie by her voice.

"I'm just going to give up being surprised by now. Hello, Edward. I'm sorry for falling asleep and bawling on you… I can replace the shirt if you want. Oh, hi Esme. Any word on Rosalie?"

I was amazed that she could be so calm. Just an hour ago she had been crying unstoppably, and now she's making small talk? And I would have to agree with her. We had run into each other so many times by now, it had stopped being a surprise.

"Edward! You told me you didn't know her!" Esme scolded me.

"Sorry Mom. I honestly thought I didn't. I hadn't gotten a good look at her face. And, besides, every time I see her, we ended up fighting anyways."

She seemed placated enough by this answer, though I knew that I would have to explain later.

"Mom? Esme, you don't have any kids!" Bella exclaimed, now sitting in between Esme and me.

She chuckled dryly. "It's a little joke I have with the three of them. When I met them, they were just constantly getting into trouble, so I became their adoptive mother. They were all in situations kind of like yours, dear."

She looked wary. "You mean like…"

Esme shook her head fervently. "Oh, no. Not like that. Their parents were all just so far away, they didn't have anyone to look after them." _Or dead…_ This conversation was really starting to confuse me; there was obviously something that they didn't want me to know. And if I was good at anything, it was finding things out. But…later, I think.

"Esme! We were in college! We didn't need any looking after." She shot me a glare. "Okay, not _much_ looking after."

"Esme…" Bella started quietly. She took one look at her and immediately held her tight in a hug, and, after a moment, I took her hand in mine.

"I'm worried about Rose still." She continued quietly, staring at the couch, tracing patterns with the hand I didn't have clutched between mine. I started rubbing soothing circles in the back of her hand, and gathered the other one.

Esme patted her back. "Oh, don't worry Bella, honey. Rose will be fine, just fine. And that idiot that did that to her will go to jail."

She looked at her through blurry eyes. "But Esme, she looked so broken. She was barely breathing. And Royce is rich. He can buy his way out of anything."

"Don't worry, we'll do everything we can. And if that doesn't work, I'll convince Carlisle to give him some horrible disease."

She laughed shakily, as Esme had meant her to, and I chuckled silently. "I would say that I wish that we had met again under better circumstances, but it would have been me in the gurney then. Or…" I wonder what she meant by _that_. There was so much about this woman I didn't know.

Esme laughed. "Dear, this is the only reason I come with Carlisle every day. I _want _to see you. Your parents are too far away for them to be there for you when you come in. All this is too difficult for you to handle by yourself."

"Oh, but I'm not by myself. I have Rose, and Andy, and Angela. I'm not alone. Though why so many of us pick _here_, I don't know. Wait, why are we talking about me? My best friend is in the hospital, which is _not_ as normal for her as it is me." This was getting immensely confusing for me. I knew that I would start researching about her in my spare time, because I was vastly curious.

"I know dear, I just haven't seen you in a while. When's your next appointment?"

She sighed, sounding like she wasn't sure what to say. "Listen, Esme…"

She was interrupted by a ringing phone, which Esme quickly answered and looked at us apologetically.

"I'm sorry you two. Can I leave you here? Carlisle needs me for something."

"No problem Mom."

"It's fine Esme." She said softly. Why did I care that she seemed so upset? She so obviously hated me.

After she left, we sat in an uncomfortable silence, shifting restlessly and avoiding looking at each other. Finally, I sighed, frustrated.

"Listen, Bella, I know you don't like me, but I can't just leave you here, and I really need to go do some things. Would you mind coming with me?" I cringed mentally, hoping she wouldn't take it the wrong way.

She looked down, uncertain, and I added in, "I'll make sure Esme calls me when she gets word on how Rosalie is doing." I could see the decision being made in her eyes.

She nodded slightly, and I had the sudden urge to leap to my feet and pump my fist up and down in victory. And I had no idea why. All I was doing was asking her to accompany me on some errands, because I didn't want to leave her alone.

Either way, I got up, _without_ jumping around in triumph, and offered her my hand. She looked at it, and I was about to retract it when she grabbed it, squeezed it tight, and refused to let go, looking like she was afraid to let go. I refused to think of how well her hand fit into mine as we walked out the door to my Volvo.

She looked at me. "This is your car?"

"Yeah."

And that was the end of that conversation. We sat in the car, in uncomfortable silence, until we met up with Emmett in the grocery store.

**BPOV**

I hugged him furiously crying into his shoulder. He patted my back, awkwardly at first, then comfortably.

"Thank you, thank you, _thank you_ Emmett. I don't know what would have happened to her if you weren't there." I sobbed out.

"It's okay Bella Bean. It's okay. We've just got to remember that what _could_ have happened didn't."

Edward looked shocked at this profound statement coming from his brother. Actually, I was still confused as to how that worked.

After my small bout with insanity was finished, we walked through the grocery, and I tried to get them to but something _remotely_ healthy. How could they stand to live off of Ramen noodles and macaroni and cheese from a box?

I pretended to ignore the small worried glances they would throw at me, despite my confusion. I thought that Edward hated me. After all, I had threatened to turn him in, and I was a total bitch to him every time we met.

We got into the car, after checking out, when I had _not_ convinced them to buy all that junk food. I sat in the back so Emmett could sit by his brother, and I fell asleep.

I woke up groggy, and being shaken. I looked around blurrily, rubbing my eyes.

"Bella Bean, we're at the hospital. Esme said that you could see Rosalie now."

"Okay Emmett." I nodded, having no idea what he just said.

He chuckled. "Bella, don't you want to see your friend? She's awake."

I nodded sleepily, and settled back into my comfy pillow. It smelled amazing. I inhaled and the pillow started shaking. I slapped it and mumbled.

"Pillow, stop moving. I'm tired." I nuzzled closer to the warmth, and bolted upright two minutes.

"Rosalie's awake?!" The top of my head hit something hard and I collapsed. "Ow… that hurt."

Emmett started laughing again. "You two are pathetic."

"Two? It's just me and the super comfy pillow back here Emmett."

He nodded, still laughing uproariously. I got a bad feeling, and looked behind me. Edward was rubbing his jaw and smiling crookedly at me. I tried not to get caught up in his beautiful smile as I blushed furiously.

"Sorry Edward. You make a very nice pillow I guess…"

He laughed a bit. "Your head is really hard. Do you have a helmet under that hair?"

I giggled. "I don't know. Can you check for me?"

He laughed, and ran his fingers through my hair, feeling my scalp. I tried not to flinch when they passed over the bump from hitting him, but he must have noticed anyway.

I laughed weakly. "I guess your jaw isn't too soft either." God, no, it wasn't soft. Totally chiseled jaw line.

Emmett interrupted the now-extremely awkward conversation. "Bella, did you want to go see Rosalie? We can go in with you if you want." Did I imagine the gleam of hope in his eyes?

I looked at Edward, and he laughed and rolled his eyes at Emmett. I think not. But, Rose could use a date with him. At the very least, he'd make her laugh. To tell the truth, they were perfect for each other. He wouldn't take any of her crap, and she might be able to reign him in a little.

I nodded. "I'd love it if you guys would come with me. I'm a little scared to go in alone."

Edward rubbed my arm soothingly as Emmett whooped, and leapt out of the car. I guess he was excited.

We walked into the hospital, and I spotted Esme. I ran over to her, without tripping, and hugged her.

"How's Rose?"

"She's… as well as can be expected. Emmett stopped anything from happening." That didn't sound too good.

"Emmett? You mean the random person walking by who helped me? It wasn't Emmett…" I stuttered.

Emmett came up behind me and clapped me on the shoulder, laughing. "Wow Bella Bean. Never, ever try to lie again. That was miserable."

I shrugged. "I figured I would try."

Esme turned to him then. "And what did I tell you about losing your temper, mister?" She scolded, pulling on his ear.

I tried to hold in my laughter as Emmett mumbled something, and then said "…Sorry Mom…"

Edward walked up, and Esme raised an eyebrow at him. He looked shocked, and shook his head furiously. Then, looked confused when Esme walked over to him and whispered in his ear. He pinched the bridge of his nose and mumbled at her. The only thing I caught was "…mind." She looked a little worried, but patted him on the back and dragged him over to stand by Emmett and I.

"No more of that, either of you. Jasper either. If I see any of you with it, you're going to be in a lot of trouble misters."

I just shook my head, laughing a little. This 'family' of theirs was weird. But, somehow, I felt like they were really connected.

When they were done I tapped Esme's shoulder. "Esme, do you want to come with us to check on Rosalie?"

"Sure hon, I want to know how she's doing. I haven't talked to her in awhile anyways. I'm sure she'd like the support."

The closer we got to her room, the more worried I got. What if she was unconscious again? What if something permanent had happened? What if we hadn't gotten there on time? What if this is just temporary, and she'll fall back asleep? Permanently this time?

Emmett could obviously tell that I was nervous and came to walk by me. He ruffled my hair, and whispered in my ear.

"Don't worry. Your friend will be fine. And we'll all be here to help her through whatever healing may be. You've met Alice, you know that she won't give her new best friend up without a fight."

I laughed weakly, knowing it was true. I gave him a little hug, and stood on tiptoe to murmur in his ear.

"Thanks for that Emmett. And, for the record, she's gonna love you. You're perfect for her."

I squared my shoulders right before we walked into her room and took a deep breath. Whatever happened in there, whatever Rose was going through, she'd be fine, and I'd be by her side, helping her through it like she's always done for me.

I walked in, putting a brave face on, and looked at Rosalie.

"Oh, Rose…" I said sympathetically, and tried not to burst into tears.

**Mini-cliffy!! Hehe. Maybe now I'll get some reviews? Not that I'm fishing or anything... *whistles* I'll try to get the next chapter out soon, PROMISE!! Luv you all!**


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